The tray was only 1 4 deep.
Old copy machine with purple ink.
It didn t use a drum.
When the gelatin got too saturated with ink dad would liquidize it by heating it and re pour it into the pan les newcomer reports that the heyer hectograph co.
The master for the ditto was only good for a limited number of copies as the solvent spirit dissolved.
The mimeograph process should not be confused with the spirit duplicator process.
Mimeographs along with spirit duplicators and hectographs were a common technology in printing small quantities as in office work classroom.
The ink came in tubes.
The stencil duplicator or mimeograph machine often abbreviated to mimeo is a low cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper.
When i was in grade school i remember this copier that printed in purple ink and the secretary had to turn a handle to produce copies.
I guess we changed those.
Sold a hectograph kit as late as 1974 tray gelatin a few sheets of purple inked paper and that thick cover.
Ditto machines made the purple copies that faded over time faster with exposure to light.
I never knew to actual name of it.
A ditto machine was a primitive photocopier that used a solvent like methylated spirits or ammonia to transfer ink from the master copy the template if you will onto other pieces of paper.
Duplicating machines were the predecessors of modern document reproduction technology.
We just cleaned it out to change color.
Both pieces of paper are stained with purple ink because they went through a machine invented in 1923 called a ditto machine or spirit duplicator.
Ditto machine purple print and that smell.
There were two cylinders with a silkscreen belt running on them.
Who could forget the purple ink that rubbed off on your hands the copies had a smell that was recognised by any 1960 70 s school kid.
The stencil was thin rubber backed with paper and it was critical to get this on right while peeling the paper backing.
Stencil duplication was a low cost printing method that worked by forcing ink through waxed paper stencils on to target paper.